Basketball Preview: Mar Vista Mariners vs. Southwest SD Raiders
The Mar Vista Mariners are on the road again on Wednesday and plays the Southwest SD Raiders at 6:30 p.m. on February 7th. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, Mar Vista suffered a tough 45-25 defeat at the hands of the Red Devils.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Allyson Bell, who scored eight points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nikki Martin, who scored seven points.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Southwest SD's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They were dealt a 75-33 loss at the hands of Hilltop. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Southwest SD in their matchups with the Lancers: they've now lost four in a row.
Despite the loss, Southwest SD saw an underclassman step up: Jazlyn Martinez scored 13 points along with eight rebounds. Another player making a difference was Analisa Valencia, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Mar Vista has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-12 record this season. As for Southwest SD, they now have a losing record at 8-9.
Keep an eye on the arc in Wednesday's match: Mar Vista have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 82.4% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Southwest SD, though, as they've only made 13.4% of their threes this season. Given Mar Vista's sizable advantage in that area, the Raiders will need to find a way to close that gap.
Mar Vista came up short against the Raiders in their previous meeting back in January, falling 48-39. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Martinez, who scored 22 points. Now that Mar Vista knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
